Following its announcement yesterday, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has now confirmed the u-turn on accepting CE marks will not apply to construction products.

The Construction Products Association sought clarification after the latest Government statement spun the construction sector into confusion.

It said that the position for construction will remain the same. That is that the CE mark for construction products will continue until 30 June 2025, when implementation of the UK CA marking scheme is set to become mandatory.

Peter Caplehorn, CPA Chief Executive, said: “We fear that policy makers do not fully understand or appreciate the gravity of this policy position not only for our sector and the construction industry, but indeed for any government ambitions related to the UK’s housing, schools, hospitals, infrastructure and wider built environment.

“The CPA has long argued that every day that manufacturers have to wait for clarification from government causes more damage.

This uncertainty has exacerbated product availability issues, led to UK and foreign manufacturers pulling products from the UK market, diminished investment and R&D, and therefore negatively impacted jobs and the ability of the product sector to support the UK construction industry every day.

“We hope that today’s announcement reflects a new appreciation by policy makers of the cost and burden caused by the CA Mark scheme.

“We will appreciate further discussions with the government to ensure the UK construction products sector sees similar clarity very soon.”